Cheap Food Recipes

I usually make this once a week because its easy to make a ton so i have for lunch a day or two besides dinner.. sorry i eye ball everything.

whole wheat noodles
Hunts diced tomatoes - no salt (I like canned for this for the extra juice)
chicken breast diced up
spinach
carrots
mushrooms
whatever veggies you want..
spices - I use mrs dash no salt chicken one

a little water and the tomato juice make a nice sauce for it...

Well, you can do Paleo. Most of the ingredients that you will need to stay on the diet consistently are mostly basic stuff like meat and vegetables. It's easy because you don't need to know much about cooking to start cooking it.

http://cooklikeacaveman.com/paleo-cookbook-review/

Definitely what I would recommend on weight loss or healthy diet plans.

Lentils are really cheap and healthy. This vegetarian meatloaf is one of my favorite recipes
http://www.food.com/recipe/really-good-vegetarian-meatloaf-really-33921

How about trying ethic cuisines? Many of them are low in fat and don't require expensive meat, poultry, or fish. Lots of vegetables and whole grains make them filling, tasty, very healthy and CHEAP. I particularly like Indian.

And the recipes are available online for free.

If husband is more traditional, lots of great American legume dishes, Boston baked beans, for example.

To save money, cook from scratch: THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT.

My family went through an 18 month period where my employer refused to pay me; I had a mortgage and three kids in college. We planted a vegetable garden, I went to the grocery wholesalers and we bought 100 lbs of beans, 100 pounds of whole wheat flour, 50 pounds of dry milk, etc., you get the idea.

After buying the bulk stuff we spent about $50 a month on food for a 50 year old woman, a teen girl and 22 year old son. And all of us are runners and bicyclists, so we ate a lot.

Make your own bread and muffins. It really is easy. When I wake up in the morning, I take 5 minutes to whip up a batch of muffins for breakfast, take a shower, and by the time I am dressed, they are hot from the oven.

We made almost everything during our 'hard time', our own mayonnaise, our own mac and cheese, even occasionally our own cheese.

Each Friday night we had a ball with homemade pizza (vegetables from our garden, homemade crust, some bought cheese in bulk from Costco) and homemade beer, which was never very good, but we had fun.

Think in cost per serving. Many items at Costco, for example, seem cheap, but the cost per serving is expensive.

Canned wild salmon is super cheap compared to fresh, very healthy, can be used for fish sandwiches, patties, in mac and cheese for variety, just about anywhere you would use tuna.

To summarize: buy in bulk, do NOT buy prepared food, learn to cook, compare price per serving.

Good luck. You absolutely can do it.

Look for crock pots recipes with beans as the main ingredient. For example, on the Crockin' Girls' website, look for their Taco Stew Recipe. Super easy, inexpensive and very tasty. And lots of left overs.

Bean soup with a little bit of ham.

I don't even like HAM but I love bean soup.

Pea soup, potato soup, vegetable beef soup, chicken soup. Stew. Chili.

Seriously, I'm not joking. I love soups (and their culinary cousins) and quite a few are cheap.

Cheapness in the way in season produce or beans are cheap isn't the only way to go, either. Coupons + sales. Mark downs. Having a stocked pantry of basics (oil, spices, flour, stock, canned/dried/frozen fruit and vegetables bought on sale or homemade). Those are all your friends. I have no problem buying higher quality meat (or other perishable item) that is going to expire soon if I am going to cook it or freeze it that day.

Try this site, and click on "conveniences", and then pick "budget friendly", and in other option things as you like:
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/healthy-recipe-finder

Beans- chickpeas and black beans are my favorite- buy them dry and they are cheap- and remember they double in volume- if you prep them early in the week you can use them through the week. If you get tired of them whole you can puree them for veggie dips (like a play on hummus) or make it into patties and pan fry them- like a play on falafel. Or mash them and mix w/ jalapenos and corn and use it like scrambled hamburger meat in eggs or tacos or breakfast burritos. I'm going to roast some chickpeas this afternoon b/c I've been wanting to try that.

Chicken- you can get a whole one and do the whole deboning thing- I think that's the most cost effective, but I buy skinless boneless breasts- and then I poach and shred them- you can quickly use this for tacos or chicken salad or garden salad w/ chicken or toss it in a soup or stir fry or a casserole or pasta bake.

Potatoes- roasted potatoes use little oil and they reheat well. A 10 lb bag of potatoes is cheap. Or throw them in the oven to have baked potatoes- they're very versatile and frankly I feel bad for the potato, it gets a bad rep.

Rice is pretty reasonably priced, also versatile and if you aren't eating just gobs of it, it can be a good "volumizer" and it's one of those things you can cook ahead of time and reheat or use as an ingredient later in the week- just cook it a little on the less done side so it's not overcooked later.

Carrots- shred them and add to casseroles, cut them up for soups, roast them, cut them up for snacks- you can save money cutting them up yourself instead of buying baby carrots.

And I can't get into the whole wheat pasta thing- I can't, I just do not like it. But regular pasta is cheap- and if you aren't just eating way too much of it it's not going to wreck your diet (unless you have gluten intolerance or are doing a no or lo carb thing- but if you are none of my two cents is helpful anyway) and can add volume to meals.

Most soups and casseroles freeze well- so if you all won't eat it all or don't like eating leftovers for a few days, freeze half of it- or double it and freeze that- then you have something you can pull out on a day you don't feel like cooking- but not spend money or blow calories on a drive thru or pizza delivery.

For me cheap and healthy is about prepping- remember that you pay for convenience at the grocery store- so if you're willing to spend a few more hours a week on your feet (and burning some calories too!) you can save a lot of money!

Fave EZ recipes are always on the back of food packaging. One of my faves is when you buy the McCormick chili packets. They list what you need and its done fast. Of course you can add whatever you want.

I made this for the first time this week, it worked out really cheap and was very tasty with some rice. I had leftovers on their own for lunch the next day. I'm going to make it in bulk next time so I can freeze some for easy midweek dinners.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1306/easy-peasy-lentil-curry

also you coul buy the fattier ground meat and just drain it since the leaner counter part cost more. i do it all the time

One thing I love to do is when the stores have whole chickens on sale, I buy 2 or 3, and as soon as I get home I roast them, then I package all the chicken into single serving portions and freeze it. Use the carcass for broths and soup starters, the chicken I have for stir-fry, fajitas, for my salads, etc.

My favorite healthy/cheap meal (with Trader Joe's prices):
1 can black beans (drained) $0.89
1 can tuna $1.29
1 cup frozen corn $2.29 for the 2.5 cup bag
1 lemon squeezed over top $0.49
cayenne pepper, black pepper

Serve over spinach salad or eat on its own. Serves 2+ for less than $5.

Also, big pork loins. Usually once per month grocery stores will put these on sale for <$2/lb. That's when I stock up. So many recipe options!

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